Vampire Flicks: Count Yorga, Vampire (The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire) (1970)

This is a case where I saw the sequel before the original movie. In the spring of 2001, AMC's American Pop, Saturday night block devoted an entire month to horror films from the early 70's, the first of which was 1971's The Return of Count Yorga, followed by Blacula, The Thing With Two Heads, and Frogs. Except for Frogs, I'd never heard of any of these movies, and given the title of the Count Yorga film, I figured it was a sequel. When I looked it up in Creature Features, I saw that I was right and that, according to John Stanley, the sequel was the superior film, as he gave this initial film a rating of only two out of five stars and described it as, "Goofy today, trendy when released." I wouldn't know myself until many years later, although I did see a little bit of this one Saturday afternoon the following February, during what AMC called their "Love Bites" marathon, featuring a bunch of vampire movies such as Fright Night and the original Dracula with Bela Lugosi. But, I wasn't able to watch Count Yorga, Vampire that day, as I had something I had to do that took all day long. It wasn't until 2011, when I got the Midnight Movies double feature DVD with this and the sequel, that I finally got to see it (as well as revisit The Return of Count Yorga, as I hadn't seen it since American Pop played it years before). Upon watching it the first time, I'll admit that I didn't think much of it, as I found it to be a tad too slow and the attempts at humor rather cringey. Because of that, I haven't rewatched it many times, with the viewing I did before this review only being the third time I've watched it period, but upon doing so, I will say that this is a fairly entertaining vampire movie. It has some undeniable cheese factor (which is why it's featured during this month), is very cliched, and its attempts at humor come off as kind of awkward, but it benefits greatly from some solid direction and respectable acting, especially from Robert Quarry as Count Yorga.

A coffin is loaded from a ship moored in the port of Los Angeles onto a truck and is driven up to a mansion in the Southern California hills. Some time later, on a stormy night, a seance is conducted in the home of Donna, a young woman who has recently lost her mother and hopes to contact her spirit. Leading the seance, which is made up of some of her close friends, is Count Yorga, a Bulgarian mystic who happens to have been the boyfriend to Donna's mother, dating her several weeks before her death. During the seance, where contact is seemingly made, Donna becomes hysterical and Yorga uses hypnosis to calm her and wipe her memory of the night's events; unbeknownst to the others, however, he also commands her telepathically to do whatever he says, when he says it. Following that, Yorga announces that he must leave and one of Donna's friends, Erica, who is fascinated with him, offers for her and her boyfriend, Paul, to drive him home. He obliges, and once there, he invites them inside for a drink, though Paul, clearly uncomfortable, insists they must go on home. On the way back out, their van gets stuck in some thick mud, even though the road was bone dry when they first arrived and there hasn't been any rain. Unable to pry it loose, they decide to spend the night and, in the dead of it, are attacked by Yorga, who knocks Paul unconscious before he can see him and then moves in on the helpless Erica. The next day, Paul talks with Michael, Donna's boyfriend, telling him about what happened and about how Erica, who has a pair of marks on her neck, doesn't remember what happened. Seeing blood specialist Dr. James Hayes, he diagnoses her with a strange loss of blood and recommends rest and lots of meat in her diet, which he suggests be as raw as possible. When Paul and Michael check on Erica later that day, they find she's taken Hayes' suggestion of raw meat to ghoulish extremes, as she's eating her own cat. After she comes to her senses, they call Hayes, who gives her a blood transfusion, using Paul as the donor. Later, though his friends don't put much stock into it, Hayes suggests the possibility that what's going on may be the work of a real vampire. Little does he know how right he is, as Yorga not only soon converts Erica but also intends to do the same to Donna, whose mother he has also turned into a vampire.

Originally, this was going to be a horror-themed, soft-core porn film under the provocative title, The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire, but American-International Pictures decided it would be easier to sell and would be more profitable if it were a straight horror film. Moreover, Robert Quarry only agreed to play the title role if the movie was changed from a skin flick, and so, the title was shortened and the vampire's name changed. However, as the available prints of the movie retain the original title (it's what you're going to see in the last paragraph of this review), which was restored in the 90's, and there are instances in the film where Yorga's name is still pronounced as "Iorga," I decided to keep it here as an alternate title. The fact that there actually is a title card for the original, more erotic version of the film suggests that some of it was shot before it was decided to make it into a traditional vampire movie but it seems like none of that footage exists anymore.

Kelljan (left) in the Twilight Zone episode, The Jeopardy Room.

Bob Kelljan started out as an actor, mainly in appearing in television shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone, and in movies like The Glass Cage, Hells Angels on Wheels, Psych-Out (both of which featured a young Jack Nicholson), and Flesh of My Flesh. The latter film marked Kelljan's directorial debut and, afterward, he went into directing full-time, with Count Yorga, Vampire being his second gig (he also wrote the screenplay for it). Kelljan would direct a few more films on into the late 70's, including The Return of Count Yorga, but around that same time, he started going more into television, which is where the rest of his career ultimately lay.

As with William Marshall in the Blacula movies a couple of years later, both of the Count Yorga movies benefit from Robert Quarry's performance in the role. Yorga is honestly little more than just Count Dracula with a different name (as we'll get into, this film's plot is also basically a modern take on the story of Dracula) and he could have easily come off as a forgettable, run-of-the-mill vampire, but Quarry manages to make him work. When he's first introduced during the seance scene, Yorga is shown to be a charming, dashing man, a Bulgarian immigrant who appears to be some sort of mystic and who, having been involved with Donna's recently-deceased mother, seems to want to help the distraught young woman make contact. When the seance goes awry and Donna becomes hysterically frightened, Yorga is able to calm her with hypnosis, but his true intentions are to begin to take control of her, telepathically telling her that she will do whatever he commands. Interested in Erica just as much as she is him, he's more than willing to allow her and Paul to drive him home. He invites them inside for a drink but, while Paul refuses and they manage to leave, Yorga manages to get at them later on when they become stuck in the mud near the mansion, knocking Paul unconscious and beginning Erica's conversion. Yorga is not a complicated character at all, nor is he in the least sympathetic: he's simply out to satiate his bloodlust and increase his harem of vampire brides, which has already grown to include Donna's mother, whom he convinced Donna not to cremate following her death, and another, unidentified woman. He's also shown to be a real deviant, using his influence over his initial two brides to force them to have sex with each other, while he watches with creepy interest. Despite their attempts to save Erica, he manages to turn her into a vampire, promising her "eternal love... magnificence beyond existence," eventually kills Paul when he follows Erica to the count's manor, looking for her, and prepares to do the same to Donna.

One of the things that makes Count Yorga an entertaining character is how intelligent he is and how eloquent he speaks. His conversations with Dr. James Hayes make for great examples of this. When they first meet when Hayes, Michael, and Donna go to the count's manor when both Erica and Paul disappear, they attempt to see if he's a vampire by trying to keep him up until dawn. Hayes asks Yorga about his experience with the occult, asking him if he's a student of the mystic arts, and then, following an interruption, Yorga asks him where they were in their conversation. Hayes said that Yorga admitted to being involved in the mystic arts and Yorga responds, "I recall your having asked; I don't remember having answered. But you're quite right, of course. I am." Hayes then asks, "What about all these voodoo rituals and things like that?", and Yorga says, "Forgive me, but the question is rather vague. If you mean do I believe, yes." All throughout this scene, while Yorga is charming and hospitable enough, he's also smart enough to know that they may possibly suspect what he is (beforehand, when he killed Paul, he told his servant, Brudah, that they could expect more visitors) and, having a feeling what they're up to by talking with him for so long, he begins to insist that he must bid them good night. The telling moment comes when, just as they're about to leave, Hayes asks him if he believes in vampires. He answers yes, and when Hayes says that vampires fascinate him, he responds, "They should. Their intelligence is far superior to humans." Furthermore, when Hayes presses him about whether it's true that vampires must return to their resting place before sunlight, Yorga tells him, "I shall save the answer to that question until the next time we meet. And you may be very comfortable in knowing, Dr. Hayes, we shall, most definitely, meet again." With that, you know that the stage is set for their eventual confrontation, and when it happens, they start out simply resuming their conversation, until it becomes clear that there's no need to keep up the pretense. Yorga shows Hayes the manor's crypt, where he keeps his vampire brides, which now include Erica, and while Hayes tries to fight him with a cross and stake, Yorga is able to have him killed by his brides.

It's during the climax that Yorga does indeed drop all pretenses and shows just how evil he is. He laughs maniacally as Hayes tries to battle him, making a fake lunge at him at one point and mocking his calling for Michael, before the brides kill him; he introduces Donna to her now undead mother before preparing to convert her; and later shoves Donna's mother into Michael's stake so he can escape the room, taking the opportunity to ambush Michael outside. And even though Yorga is eventually staked and killed, it's revealed that he was successful in converting Donna, as the movie ends with her attacking Michael.

As compelling as he can be, there's no denying that Count Yorga is still pretty typical as far as vampires go. When he's not wearing one of his stylish red evening robes, he dons the traditional black suit and cape (the inside of the latter being red, like the one worn by Christopher Lee in the Hammer Dracula films) and wears a medallion similar to the one Dracula is often depicted wearing. Most of the same basic rules apply to him as well: he has to avoid sunlight by resting in his coffin, he doesn't like crosses, he can only be killed by the sun or a stake through the heart, anyone he completely drains of blood becomes a vampire themselves, and he can command them with his hypnotic influence, speaking to them telepathically in an airy, growling voice. But, some differences are that he does cast a reflection in a mirror and he's never shown turning into a bat, so whether or not he can is up to debate. He's also suggested to be able to influence his very environment, such as in how a section of the road leading to his manor suddenly turns muddy enough to stall Paul and Erica's van, even though it was dry before and there hadn't been any rain, and also how the candle Paul and Erica have lit inside the van suddenly goes out as he approaches from outside. As with most movie vampires around this time, he's able to appear to be a normal human but and can switch to full-on vampire mode, with pale skin and sharp teeth (all of his teeth become sharp, not just his canines), when he decides there's no use in keeping up the charade, which is usually when he attacks someone.

Blood specialist Dr. James Hayes (Roger Perry) can easily be described as being this film's equivalent to Prof. Van Helsing, though he ultimately proves less effective than Dracula's eternal nemesis. He first comes into the movie when he examines Erica after she's been attacked by Count Yorga and, diagnosing her with an unexplained loss of blood, he recommends rest and more protein in her diet, advising her to start eating stakes and to eat them as raw as she can. Later, he's called over when Michael and Paul find Erica eating her own cat and Hayes is forced to give her a transfusion when it's discovered that she's lost more blood. Between Erica's incoherent rambling about being afraid of something she can't put a name to, the mystery surrounding Yorga's origin, and the findings and conjecture of a colleague of his, Hayes begins to suggest the possibility of the attack being that of a vampire. He admits that it does seem ridiculous but, given that his colleague, Dr. Steingardt, is a well-respected blood specialist and the fact that vampires have never been proven to not exist, he decides not to discount it completely. Smartly, he opts to read up on the lore of vampires and then meet Yorga himself before drawing any conclusions. However, later that night, he's forced to meet Yorga sooner than he anticipated when Erica disappears and Paul does the same after running up to the count's manor. Hayes is intent upon finding Paul by exploring the manor, as well as by keeping Yorga up until sunrise to see what happens, and while they fail on both counts, Hayes becomes pretty sure that Yorga is a vampire given his answers to his questions about his dealings with the occult, specifically the tense exchange between them that alludes to another encounter soon before Yorga retires. Now, Hayes only has Michael to help him in killing Yorga, assuring him that the vampire's body will disintegrate after he's staked, so they won't have to explain anything to the police, and adds that if Erica and Paul have become vampires too, they'll have to kill them as well. However, their plan to deal with Yorga before nightfall the next day goes awry when he calls Donna to his manor and she switches off Michael's alarm while he's sleeping, causing them to oversleep until 4:30. The two men, despite knowing the danger, go after her, with Hayes being found by Yorga while Michael searches the mansion. Picking up their conversation from the night before, they soon drop all pretenses and Hayes is shown the basement where Yorga keeps his vampire brides, which now include Erica. Hayes tries to hold Yorga back with a cross and stake but ends up getting brutalized when the brides jump him from behind. Michael later finds his mutilated body and, before he finally dies, he's able to tell him that Donna is upstairs in the mansion.

Michael Murphy, who went on to appear in movies like Wes Craven's Shocker and Batman Returns, has an early role here as Paul, Erica's boyfriend. At the seance, Paul is not taking it seriously at all, fake snoring at one point and copping a quick feel on Erica's breast another, and after the seance goes down the drain, he gets roped into driving Count Yorga home. Clearly uncomfortable after encountering Yorga's deformed servant, Brudah, and a vicious guard dog at the gate, as well as seeing the silhouette of a woman in the manor's doorway, Paul rebuffs the count's offer to come inside for a drink, as he wants to get out as quickly as possible. But, they end up getting stuck in the mud and are forced to spend the night. Though it gives them an opportunity to have sex, it leads to disaster when Yorga attacks, knocking Paul unconscious and biting Erica, beginning her conversion into a vampire. Paul didn't see Yorga, so he doesn't know what happened, but he later tells Michael that he found it strange how, the next day when they tried to go back to the manor, they were told that Yorga had left for the day and yet, there was no sign that he came by them at any point during the night. What's more, given how both Erica and Donna have been hysterical, with a loss of memory, and both occurrences happened following a meeting with Yorga, they start to wonder if there's a connection. They attempt to call Erica and check on her but, when they don't get an answer, they rush over there, to find that her house looks like it's been ransacked and Erica is eating her cat. Paul, horrified at this, has Michael call Dr. Hayes, and is doubly freaked when Erica goes from threatening violence if he gets too close to trying to seduce him. After she calms down and they're able to restrain her, Paul allows Hayes to give Erica a transfusion of his blood. Though alarmed by her hysterical behavior and babbling about being afraid of something she can't name, when Hayes suggests that it may be the work of a vampire, Paul is unable to keep a straight face. He believes that Dr. Steingardt is a quack for believing in it and is also taken aback that Hayes is considering it but, regardless, he does suggest calling the police, though Hayes tells him that they'd be laughed. However, he does agree to stay with Erica to keep an eye on her and asks Hayes what happens to someone who's bitten by a vampire. But, while Paul sleeps downstairs, Yorga pays Erica a visit in her bedroom, seduces and bites her again, and takes her. When he finds that she's gone, Paul immediately heads to Yorga's manor but, once inside, is easily killed by the count and Brudah, his blood-drained body being found in the catacombs by Michael during the climax.

Initially, Erica (Judy Lang) is depicted as having a very lively and bubbly personality, definitely coming off as somebody from the youth generation. She seems instantly fascinated with Count Yorga when she meets him at the seance, complimenting him on his ability to snap Donna out of her hysteria and, when he says that he's leaving, offers for her and Paul to give him a ride back home. She's more than happy to accept Yorga's offer to come inside for a drink, describing his manor as "super," but Paul nixes that idea and they attempt to leave, only for their van to get stuck in the thick mud they run into. It's revealed that she has a playful relationship with Paul, as when he's trying to get the van unstuck, he suggests she get her "fat ass" out and help him, and while she's genuinely perturbed by that remark, insisting, "It is not a fat ass!", when it turns out he was just kidding around with her and finally concedes that her ass isn't huge, she responds, "Damn right, it's not." When it becomes clear that they're going to have to spend the night in the van, they decide to make the most of it and have sex, but their romance turns to terror when Yorga attacks them, knocking out Paul and feeding on Erica. The next day, after they've made it back to town, Erica, who's examined by Dr. Hayes, is revealed to have no memory of what happened and now seems to have none of the energy she once had. After Hayes sends her home, recommending she eat some raw steaks in order to make up for her lost blood, Erica goes off the deep end, trashing her house, knocking the phone to the floor, and feeding on her own cat. When Paul and Michael find her like this, she switches from telling Paul to stay away from her to attempting to seduce him and then finally coming to her senses and breaking down when she realizes what she's done. During a blood transfusion between her and Paul, she asks him not to hate her and rambles hysterically about wanting to die and about being afraid of something, though she has no idea what it is. Despite their attempts to save her, Erica is paid another visit by Yorga, who seduces her and drains more blood from her before taking him with her. When she's next seen, she's now a full-on vampire, and remains one for the rest of the movie, taking part in Hayes' death and continually menacing Michael as he tries to save Donna.

At first, it seems as though Donna (Donna Anders) is going to be a major character in the story but, after the seance scene at the beginning, she has very little screentime. She's intent upon contacting her recently-deceased mother with Count Yorga's help but the seance goes awry and, after begging for her mother to come back to her, Donna becomes hysterical and has to be taken over to a nearby couch. Yorga is able to calm her through simple hypnosis, wiping her memory of what happened, as well as first exerting his influence over her. When she awakens, she remembers nothing and is her usual cheery self again, though she asks Yorga to tell her what happened. He tells her to forget it and then leaves, politely turning down an invitation to breakfast the following morning. Once he's left, her friends ask her exactly who Yorga is and he tells them that he was her mother's boyfriend. She also says that they likely met him before at her mother's funeral but then, as she thinks, it dawns on her that he wasn't at the funeral. In addition, she tells them that she was going to have her mother cremated but Yorga insisted on a regular burial, which Donna obliged. After that, Donna isn't seen for a while, though you hear that she's still rather exhausted after the seance and wants to do nothing but sleep all day. When Erica disappears and Paul goes to the count's manor, Dr. Hayes has Michael bring Donna with them, as he believes she'd be safer with them rather than by herself. This turns out to be a grave mistake, though, as during the visit, Yorga takes the opportunity to strengthen his hold on Donna, telling her to come when he calls for her. The next day, Yorga telepathically calls for her and Donna drives to the mansion, deactivating the alarm on Michael's clock before she leaves so as to botch a plan they had to kill Yorga during the daytime. She ends up getting raped by Brudah when she arrives but remains under Yorga's control, being reunited with her now undead mother in the manor. Michael and Hayes attempt to save her but, while Yorga is staked, it's revealed that Michael was unable to prevent Donna from being turned, as the movie ends with her attacking and killing him.

Michael Macready, the film's producer, also plays the role of Michael, Donna's boyfriend, as well as a close pal of Paul's. During the seance, the two of them are goofing on it, with Paul saying that Michael keeps making him laugh, but everyone turns serious when Donna has a hysterical breakdown and Michael has to carry her over to the couch. He tries to keep Count Yorga away from her when he says he can help but, when the phone turns out to be dead, he has no choice but to let the count do his thing. While it does seem to snap Donna out of it, little does Michael know that Yorga has begun exerting his influence over her. Later, it's revealed that Michael and Donna are engaged to be married and that he, like their other friends, have no clue as to how Yorga came into the picture. The next day, following Paul and Erica's experience at the count's manor, Michael tries to help Paul rationalize what happened, but when they realize that both Erica and Donna have suffered from hysteria and amnesia following a meeting with Yorga, they have a feeling there might be a connection. Following the scene where they see how badly Erica's condition has deteriorated and the transfusion Dr. Hayes administers for her with Paul's blood, they have their talk about the possibility of Yorga being a vampire. Like Paul, Michael is incredulous at this and completely refuses to even consider the fact that it might be a possibility. Later that night, when Paul finds Erica gone, he calls Michael and tells him that he's heading to Yorga's place. Michael, Hayes, and Donna drive out there, intending to look for Paul when they get a chance and try to keep Yorga up until sunrise. At one point, Michael tries to search for Paul on the pretense of needing to go to the washroom but Yorga insists that Brudah show him the way, ruining that plan. Still not completely convinced that Yorga is a vampire, Michael finds the idea of killing him to be insane since it could land them in prison, even though Hayes insists that a vampire's body disintegrates after it's staked. But, since Hayes says he's sure he's right, Michael ultimately decides to go along with him. He gets some sleep and sets his clock for later that afternoon so he can then call and awaken Hayes, but Donna puts an end to that plan when she deactivates his clock's alarm after being called by Yorga. Arriving at the manor, the two men split up and Michael soon gets all the proof he needs when he later finds a coffin and Paul's drained body, is attacked by the hard to kill Brudah, finds Hayes' mutilated body in the manor's crypt, and is confronted by two vampire women, one of whom is Erica. Unable to kill Erica, Michael simply wards the vampires off and flees upstairs. After another confrontation with Brudah, Michael finds Donna and manages to stake both Yorga and Donna's now undead mother. He tries to escape with her but she turns out to have been turned as well and eventually attacks and kills him.

If Dr. Hayes is this film's equivalent to Van Helsing, then it can be safely said that Brudah (Edward Walsh), Count Yorga's deformed servant, is the Renfield of this story. First seen driving Yorga's coffin to the manor after it arrives via ship, his real introduction is at the gate when Paul and Erica drive him home. Brudah is little more than just the muscle for Yorga, doing the really dirty work like easily breaking Paul's back over his knee after Yorga chokes him out, and also acts as a guard for the house, following Michael to the washroom during the group's late night visit in order to keep him from wandering around, looking for Paul. Though he does Yorga's bidding without question, Brudah isn't above potentially provoking his wrath by satisfying his own desires, as seen when he rapes Donna when she arrives at the manor upon hearing Yorga's telepathic call. Once he has his way with her in the nearby woods, he puts her upstairs and comes down into the basement crypt to tell Yorga where she is. Yorga obviously knows what he's done and glares at Brudah, who asks for forgiveness, but he senses that Hayes and Michael have arrived and decides that dealing with them is more important. Following Hayes' death, Brudah attacks Michael when he makes his way down to the catacombs and, though he receives a very deep stab wound, he shows up to menace him again as he's making his way upstairs to find Donna. It's then that Brudah finally collapses, bleeding out from his wound.

Cleo (Julie Conners), Dr. Hayes' girlfriend, appears in only one scene, when she's shown to be in bed with Hayes when he gets the call from Michael about Paul having gone up to Count Yorga's manor by himself. However, I have to mention her because of how she comes off as kind of awkwardly slow and ditzy, with a kind of constant derpy look to her face. When she asks Hayes why he has to rush off in the middle of the night, he asks her if she would believe him if she were the police and he called her up to report that there was a vampire on the prowl. Cleo simply says, "Sure," and while Hayes initially writes her answer off as being typical of her, given their relationship and her personality, she explains that the reason why she would believe him was because she'd read in the previous day's paper about the body of a young baby being found drained of blood. She adds that the article went on to say, "If ever the police believed in vampires...", and this prompts Hayes to actually call the police. But, as expected, he gets laughed at, as he's far from the first one to report such a thing. For whatever reason, this odd, one-scene character did leave an impression on me... that and because Julie Conners, who was naked save for the sheet she had around her chest, is simply gorgeous here.

The film's opening features some random narration by an extremely sinister-sounding speaker (George Macready, father of Michael) who is never identified and who gives this quote: "A vampire, in ancient belief, was a malignant spirit who, when the Earth lost its sunlight, rose nightly from its dark grave to suck blood from the throats of the living. Its powers were many. It could see in the dark, which was no small ability in a world half-veiled from light. Its hypnotic skills baffled the domain of science. It was of a cunning more than mortal, for its cunning was a growth of ages, since it could not die by the mere passing of time. It had to have been by a wooden stake driven deep into its heart or exposure to the rays of the sun, which would instantly decompose its body into a miasma of putrid decay. The believers of this superstition referred to vampires as "the living dead." I seem to be making use of the past tense. Perhaps the present will be more precise, for it stands to reason that, if one is superstitious, even at a small, seemingly-insignificant level, one must be vulnerable to all superstitions, conceivably even those of vampires." His voice is heard again at the end of the movie, as he laughs evilly at the notion that vampires are just superstition, and while it is interesting to wonder who this guy is, it's also an aspect of the movie's undeniable cheese factor.

Besides its being another AIP production, one thing that Count Yorga, Vampire shares in common with Blacula, the really good, blaxploitation horror film from 1972, is that it plucks the vampire story out of the traditional European, Gothic setting and plants it in 1970's Los Angeles. As I said when I reviewed Blacula, the notion of putting vampires into what was the modern era at the time of a movie's respective production had been done before but these films were likely the first to make the setting a really big, urban environment like L.A. However, it has to be said that, while Blacula would take place entirely within the city, Count Yorga uses it more as a general backdrop. You do see some location shots of the city, such as the port at the beginning when Yorga's coffin is loaded onto a truck and driven to his manor and when Michael and Paul are walking around the city, discussing what happened at Yorga's manor the night before, but the action is mostly relegated to the interiors of people's homes and Yorga's isolated manor up in the hills. Unlike Blacula, you never see Yorga hitting the mean streets of L.A., and while it is interesting to see scenes involving vampires taking place in 70's style homes, these places are clearly suburban in nature. And Yorga's mansion, while the interior, upstairs area is modernly furnished, is still meant to evoke the classic Gothic notion of vampires, with its winding, spiraling staircases and the basement area that's been converted into a dungeon-like throne room/crypt, where Yorga sits and watches over his vampire brides, who rest on slabs down there. Still, there's no denying that this approach to a vampire film was a novel idea at the time and that other movies would expand upon it in the coming years.

Not only is this a vampire story set in the modern day but, if you look at the plot, it's basically a modern telling of the story of Dracula, just with different character names. Let's go through a check list, shall we? You have a centuries-old vampire from a European country who relocates elsewhere, by boat. Check. He begins preying on two young women, eventually killing one of them and turning her into a vampire before beginning to do the same to the other. Check. A doctor becomes involved in the case, administers blood transfusions to the girl who is the initial target, and, after some research, slowly starts to realize what may be going on and tries to convince the girls beaus of it. Check. And eventually, they try to save the girl who hasn't yet been turned by killing the main vampire. Check. They also mention the body of a baby that was found drained of blood, which, in the original book, was something that Dracula offered to his vampire brides so he could have Jonathan Harker to himself. Plus, at one point in the book, Renfield asks for a kitten, and I think it can safely be said that the scene with Erica here shows what he was planning to do with said kitten. Really, the only major deviation from the general plot is the movie's downbeat ending, where Count Yorga himself is destroyed but the women he corrupted remain as vampires and it's ultimately revealed that Donna was turned as well.

The filmmaking in the movie is of a generally mixed nature. For the most part, Bob Kelljan shows that he was a competent director, as the movie looks nice and is well-shot, with some interesting bits of camerawork, like how it follows the blood running through the tube to the syringe during the transfusion scene. But, Kelljan tends to switch back and forth between really steady, solid shots and pans to shakier, more handheld-looking pieces of cinematography in scenes where there's a lot of movement. Sometimes this works, like in the scene where the camera is right near the floor and shoots Erica's feet as she shuffles through her disheveled home, leading into the scene with the cat, and when Count Yorga seduces Erica in her bedroom, but other times, it gets a tad too blurry. Also, there a number of instances where the framing is a bit off, where the actors are in the center of a shot. Sometimes, it's clearly done on purpose to give a scene more visual impact, like how, during Dr. Hayes' first meeting with Yorga, the cutting back and forth between the shots of them sitting across from each other as they talk are done so that they're on the farthest side of their respective frames as possible. But, there are other instances where the framing feels more like they simply didn't move the camera farther to one side and decided, "Ah, screw it, just it leave it there." Plus, there are some instances of awkward zooming in, like during Michael and Paul's conversation while walking the streets of L.A., though it's not as egregious as what you'd see in a movie by Jess Franco. Speaking of which, that montage can be a bit trying of one's patience because of how long it goes on and weirdly awkward due to the amount of different places they go to. They're walking on various sidewalks, sitting at an outside table at a restaurant, sitting on street corners, milling around a backlot, sitting on the empty bleachers at a ballfield, and then actually walking in a park. They go to so many places that, if I didn't know they had girlfriends, I'd figure they were on a date! The film's editing can get a little silly as well, especially at the end when Yorga is staked and you get this very quick montage of shots of his face as he yells in pain. I have a feeling it's supposed to be dramatic but the rapid cutting, Robert Quarry's expressions, and the melodramatic sounds he lets out make it hard to take seriously. And, like any low-budget movie made during this period, we get our fair share of day-for-night shots, which become obvious when they're cut into photography that actually was done at night.

Though they'd decide to make it into a traditional horror film rather than a skin flick, that didn't stop the filmmakers from putting a fair amount of eroticism into Count Yorga, Vampire. But, since AIP wanted a GP-rating (if you didn't know, GP was eventually renamed "PG") in order to get the film into the largest possible theater market, the film's sexual nature had to be considerably toned down. As the movie now stands, you don't see any graphic nudity but you still get scenes like Paul and Erica having sex in the back of their van after they get stuck (you get maybe a side-view of Erica's breasts and a fleeting glimpse of their abdomens but those shots are put in the middle of dissolves); the moment where Count Yorga makes his vampire brides have sex purely for his sick amusement (you only see the start of it but the implication is clear); Erica acting all aroused and turned on when she opens the window to her room, fondling her breasts underneath her unbuttoned nightgown, in the lead-up to Yorga appearing to her and seducing her; and the undeniable erotic nature of their encounter, as after he bites her, he puts his hands on hers as she, again, touches her breasts, she looks turned on when he goes in for some more nips, and he plants a bunch of kisses on her neck and chin, leading to her embracing him. They also ran into ratings problems when it came to the violence, ultimately leading to two-to-three minutes worth of material being removed (yet, when it came time for the sequel the following year, AIP allowed it to be given an R-rating, even though that film is much less violent and sensual). The violence, while not extreme by any means, can sometimes be a bit gruesome, enough to where the movie has since been re-rated as PG-13: a fair bit of blood is left from Yorga's attack on Erica, the scene where she's seen eating her cat is pretty sickening (that was a real cat but it was sedated and slathered in lasagna; incidentally, the scene is longer in the DVD version), the shot of the blood streaming through the tubes during the transfusion can get to anyone who doesn't like needles or really invasive medical exams, Paul's getting choked out and then having his back broken can possibly make you wince, and the stabbings, stakings, and vampire attacks that occur during the climax are actually very bloody and brutal, on par with what you would have seen in the Hammer horror films around this time (although, the sight of Yorga's staked body turning into dust is mainly just laughable in how it looks). Let's also not forget Brudah's raping of Donna which, even though you don't see the actual deed, the strong implication of it is still skin-crawling, regardless.

The film does also try to have a bit of levity and humor to it, such as with Michael and Paul's initial happy-go-lucky attitudes, but when Dr. Hayes is introduced, they try to make him a figure of humor but the attempts to do so come off as a tad... awkward. When Erica is having a session with him following her first encounter with Count Yorga, there's a moment where his assistant, a French woman named Babette, brings him Dr. Steingardt's report on Erica's blood test and curtsies when she does. He tells her that it's not necessary for her to curtsy but, since she doesn't speak much English, she simply says, "Merci," and walks out of the room. Hayes then explains the situation to Erica, adding, "She's very efficient," and there's an awkward pause before we get back to business, making me wonder why that was necessary. I thought maybe they were trying to imply that Hayes had something of a roving eye and hired Babette because she was good-looking but it came off as just odd. Later on, we have that moment between Hayes and Cleo as he's getting ready to join Michael in searching for Paul. As I said, Cleo's kind of ditzy personality is memorable but then, comes the moment where she makes Hayes decide to call up the police and tell them about a possible vampire in the city. When the desk sergeant picks up the phone at the station, Hayes tries to tell him what's going on but first has to spell out his last name to him and then, when he mentions a vampire, you can tell from his expression that he's being admonished for what he said. After the sergeant hangs up, Hayes tells Cleo what he said: "I am the 47th nut who has reported a vampire in the last 14 hours and I should be ashamed of myself for having such a sick, morbid sense of humor." Again, I find myself thinking, "That was pointless." And they do it again later while Hayes, after his first meeting with Yorga, is doing some brushing up on the lore of vampires. Again, he tries to convince the sergeant about the existence of a real vampire and, again, he gets scolded and hung up on, lamenting to himself, "Now I'm the 58th nut to report a vampire." While I did kind of chuckle when he follows that up by saying, "Did it ever occur to you that we may be right, you dumbass?", I still felt these attempts at humor just took up running time and were more awkward than funny.

The film opens with shots of the Port of Los Angeles, as crates are being hoisted off of the ship, the Alexandra Voyazides, and onto the docks. One crate being raised up by a forklift into the back of a large, red pickup truck, which is then driven out of the port by Brudah. As that ominous narrator chimes in, telling us about vampires, it's revealed that the truck's cargo is that of a wooden coffin. Brudah drives through the city streets and out into the countryside, passing through the gates of the manor up in the hills and then on up to the large house, parking in the driveway next to it. The film then transitions with a shot of a lightning bolt (clear stock footage that's been used in many films) to Donna's house, where Count Yorga is leading her and her friends in a seance in order to contact the spirit of her mother. Yorga talks up the mystique of what they're attempting to do and tells any doubters in the group to just accept what happens. Some, however, aren't taking things seriously, such as Paul, who fakes falling asleep and snoring when Yorga is telling them to relax. Once everyone settles down, Yorga attempts to make contact, telling the spirit of Donna's mother to make her presence known, but while everyone has their eyes closed, Paul cops a quick feel of Erica's left breast. As Yorga tries to summon the spirit, one of Donna's friends tries but fails to stifle a sneeze, breaking everyone's concentration. Yorga asks Donna if she wishes to continue and she says yes, pleading for everyone to stop fooling around, with Yorga saying that he must have everyone's willingness. Finally, everyone agrees to be serious, and he tells them to place their hands together again. He then tells them to concentrate and, as they do, the shutters of a nearby window open by themselves. Trying to make contact again, he asks if the spirit if she's in the room with them and the light on the table starts to flicker. Looking at Donna, Yorga declares that contact has been made and tells them to continue concentrating. He motions for Donna to try and she pleads with her mother to let her know she's there, asking her to not leave her again. Her pleading becomes more desperate, saying that she doesn't like being alone, and Yorga tries to get the spirit to tell her that she'll be with her always, adding, "You can't desert your child." Seeing how worked up Donna is getting, Michael tries to stop it but it continues, until Donna suddenly screams and starts writhing hysterically. Michael picks her up and takes her over to a nearby couch. Because of the storm, they have trouble getting the lights back on and have to light candles.

As they try to calm her, Yorga insists that he can help, but Michael, having seen enough of his handiwork, tells him to keep away from her. But, they then learn that the phone's dead, leaving them no choice but to allow him to do whatever it is he plans to do. Sitting on the other end of the couch, Yorga takes a candle and tells Donna that there's nothing to be afraid of, instructing her to relax and listen to his voice while concentrating on the candle's flame. When she looks at the flame, he tells her that she will now be at peace and, sure enough, she calms. He tells her that she's safe and that she will forget everything that happened at the seance. Unbeknownst to everyone else, he's also telepathically commanding her, "You will do everything I say, whenever and from wherever I say it." He then tells her to awaken when he puts his hands on her forehead, forgetting the total experience of the seance. He does so and, at that very moment, the electricity comes back on. Yorga walks away and everyone crowds around Donna to see if she's really alright. One of Donna's friends, Peter, who went looking for the fuse-box, returns and tells Paul when he asks that he never found it. Donna has now awakened and, sure enough, remembers nothing, wondering why everyone's staring at her. Erica goes to get her some brandy and, when she asks the count if he'd like one, he declines. She brings up that he hasn't eaten or drunk anything the whole time he's been there and he says, "Well, it's not very attractive to complain of a troubled stomach, but I'm afraid I must. Perhaps I'll have a little snack later on." As she goes to get the brandy, Yorga tells Donna that he must be going and she goes to fetch his cape. When Erica hears that he's leaving, she offers to give him a lift and then, he heads out in Erica and Paul's red van with Paul driving. While the others talk with Donna about how she knows Yorga, and she realizes that, despite having been her mother's boyfriend, he wasn't at her funeral, Erica and Paul arrive at the gate to Yorga's manor, where Brudah greets them, as does a snarling German shepherd. Brudah is barely able to keep the dog restrained as he opens the gate but Yorga tells Erica and Paul to remain calm. As they watch, he looks down at the dog and it immediately ceases its barking, sitting and becoming much calmer, though still barking occasionally. After bidding good evening to Brudah, Yorga tells Paul that he can drive on.

Paul heads down the narrow driveway and they soon come upon the manor, which looks rather eerie in the darkness. Driving up to the front, the door opens and the form of a woman can be seen standing there briefly before slinking back inside. Paul asks Yorga if that was his wife and the count simply says that it wasn't. Yorga then invites them in for a drink but, while Erica is more than willing to accept, Paul turns him down, clearly wanting to get out as quickly as he can. Yorga then gets out and, after bidding them good night, tells them to be careful, saying that the road to the gate can be treacherous. Then, in the very next cut, the van's tire is revealed to be stuck in some thick mud, much to Paul's irritation. After some banter between them, Paul breaks off some pieces of branches and starts to put them under the tires for leverage, when Erica hears a howl echo through the air. Arguing with her about whether or not they were wolves, Paul tells Erica to start the van up and ease it forward a bit, ignoring her request that they go back to the manor and ask if they can stay the night. She turns the van on and tries to do what he said but the van doesn't budge an inch. Later, as they're sitting there, still stuck, a cut to the manor reveals that someone is watching them through the window. Paul then realizes that there hasn't been any rain all night and yet, they've hit a thick mud puddle that they couldn't have possibly missed when they came through because of how narrow the road is; what's more, the rest of the road is completely dry. Paul teases her, suggesting that they now partake in the count's hospitality, but Erica isn't setting foot outside the car. As their unseen watcher withdraws away from the window, they decide to take advantage of their predicament and have sex. Later that night, Paul puts his pants on and walks outside to relieve himself. However, he's not alone, and while he doesn't see his stalker, he does sense his presence. Seeing nothing but dark woods leading up to the manor, he uneasily climbs back into the van and then looks out one of the windows. As it's obvious that he's on edge, Erica asks him what's wrong and he asks her to look out the window. She does but doesn't see anything either. Deciding that it must not be anything, he climbs back under the covers with her and assures her that everything's fine and they should just get some sleep. But, as they try to drift off, their previously unseen stalker approaches the van. The lit candle inside suddenly goes out and Erica is awakened by the animals in the surrounding woods suddenly becoming much louder than they were before. Erica pulls back the drapes to see Yorga, in full vampire mode, glaring at her from outside. She screams and wakes up Paul, who's about to go out himself, when the door suddenly opens and Yorga yanks him out. Before Paul knows what happened, Yorga has him on the ground and knocks him unconscious. With no one to help her, Yorga enters the van and moves in on the helpless and terrified Erica.

Following their long, walking conversation about Donna and Erica, Paul and Michael decide it might be a good idea to check up on them. Michael calls Donna first and is told that she's fine but still sleepy. Paul then calls Erica, who had just seen Dr. Hayes, and when the film cuts to her home as the phone rings, it's clear that something is wrong. The place is a complete mess, with stuff thrown all over the floor, and Erica walks through the place in a strange, shuffling gait. Reaching the phone, she knocks it to the floor, disconnecting the receiver. Paul tries to get Erica to answer, asking her if she's alright, but Erica does nothing but walk around the phone. Knowing that something's wrong, Paul and Michael jump into Paul's van and head over there. Upon arriving, they find that the place is a mess and, as they cautiously walk through it and reach the kitchen, they come across the horrific sight of Erica eating her cat. She screams at them and Paul tells Michael to call Dr. Hayes and get him over there as soon as he can. He tries to approach Erica but she warns him to stay away, as Michael manages to get Hayes on the phone and tells him to come over right away. Then, Erica goes from warning Paul to stay away from her to attempting to seduce him, stretching her arms out to him. She then seems to come to her senses and, seeing the mutilated cat in her hand, drops it and nearly collapses to the floor, Paul managing to catch her. In the next scene, Hayes is administering a transfusion to Erica, with Paul being the donor. Ashamed and despondent over what she's done, Erica asks Paul not to hate her and Paul asks Hayes to put her out but he says he can't until the transfusion is complete, adding that he wants to hear what she has to say. Michael comes in with a washcloth and puts it on Erica's forehead, as she starts raving, saying, "My God, I don't want it to happen," and, "Please, I'm so afraid." Hayes asks Erica what she's afraid of but she says she can't remember. He then asks if it has something to do with the marks on her throat but she gives no answer, asking simply for them to let her die.

Meanwhile, at his manor, Count Yorga descends the winding staircases, heading down into the place's basement area, eventually coming to the crypt area and throne room, lit entirely by numerous candles, where his two vampire brides are lying on slabs. Heading down to the floor, he looks at his brides, one of whom is Donna's mother, while the other is an unnamed redheaded woman. He then sits down on his throne and, as he looks at them, clearly concentrating, they both awaken. Donna's mother rises up off her slab and over to the other bride, who embraces her as they begin to engage in lesbian sex, while Yorga watches with devious intent. Later, after they've had their conversation about the possibility of Erica having been attacked by a vampire, Hayes and Michael leave but the doctor tells Paul to stay there and keep watch over her, telling him to call if anything happens. Back at his mansion, Yorga rises up from the chair in his den and towards a window. He opens it and looks up at the sky, as dark clouds pass over the moon and lightning flashes violently. In her bedroom, Erica, the top half of her nightgown open, gets up off her bed and walks over to the doors that lead to a patio. When she opens them, she seems to be aroused by the feeling of the wind hitting her, touching and fondling her breasts, before walking back over to her bed and lying down on it. As she does, Yorga appears in the doorway. Downstairs, Paul struggles to stay awake, while up in her room, Yorga sits down on the side of Erica's bed and telepathically speaks to her, telling her, "I've come to offer you eternal love. To keep you with me forever, outlasting centuries. Magnificence beyond existence. This, I now give to you." Baring his teeth, Yorga bites into the left side of Erica's neck, touches her hands as she runs them down across her breasts, and then leans in to suck more blood before kissing her passionately about the face and neck. All throughout this, Erica is clearly very aroused and enamored with the count. Paul is then shown heading upstairs to check on her but, when he reaches her room, he finds her gone and with the patio doors open.

While Michael and Hayes get dressed to go after Paul, with Hayes also foolishly attempting to call the police about what's going on, he rushes out to the count's front gate, pushing it open and driving on through. Inside the manor, Brudah carries Erica down into the crypt, while Yorga locks the door behind him. He pulls back the curtain on a window and watches as Paul pulls up, jumps out of the van, and rushes to the front door. Opening it and closing it behind him, Paul yells for Yorga, only to hear the sound of his van's ignition outside. Looking out, he sees someone driving it away from the front of the house and off into the distance. He realizes that it means they know he's there and cautiously walks to the foot of the stairs, scanning his surroundings. He's about to walk into the den, when Yorga rushes at him from another door and grabs him by the throat and pushes him up against the wall. Try as he might, Paul is unable to escape the vampire's grip and, when Brudah enters the room, Yorga shoves the helpless man over to him. Brudah finishes Paul off by lowering him down and breaking his back over his knee. Watching him, Yorga then tells Brudah, "You can expect more guests."

Yorga is next seen playing his piano, when he senses that those other "guests" have arrived and heads to the front door. Outside, Hayes, Michael, and Donna prepare for what they have to do, Hayes telling them that they must keep Yorga up until dawn and that they should take any chance they can get to go look for Paul and Erica. Hayes pounds on the door and Yorga answers, bidding them inside after Donna introduces him to Hayes. He shows them to the den, as Brudah watches when he comes up from downstairs. Once they've sat down, Michael and Donna ask Yorga if Paul and Erica have dropped by and he claims to have not seen them at all. Hayes clarifies that Paul said he might drop by, as he felt Erica may be there herself, though Yorga claims to not know why she would come to his home. With that, they make small-talk, Hayes telling Yorga of his work, the count politely turning down Michael's request for a tour of the house, and explaining that he hales from a small village in Bulgaria. Time passes and Hayes asks Yorga if he's a student of the mystic arts, while Michael attempts to search the place for Paul and Erica on the pretense of needing to go to the washroom but that plan is derailed when Yorga insists that Brudah show him the way. After chatting some more about his involvement with the mystic arts, Yorga asks Hayes for the time and he says that it's 4:30. Hayes then looks out the nearby window for the view of it, when Yorga notices how quiet Donna is being. Telling her that she's too tense, he walks behind her and, while Hayes is preoccupied with the view, he takes the opportunity to reassert his influence on her, rubbing her temples and telling her to relax, not to think about her friends, and such. He then telepathically commands her, "When I call, you will come." Michael then returns and Yorga tries to wrap things up but Hayes asks for one more drink of brandy before they go. The count complies but asks Michael what time it is; it's now 4:35. Hayes then tries to ask Yorga about werewolves and while he says that it's a difficult question to answer in their part of the world, Donna turns and notices that Brudah is leering at her. Hayes presses him and Yorga assures him that they do exist at the very moment and that he's seen one. He, again, tries to get them to leave, saying he must retire and that he'd be more than willing to answer any more questions the following night. Hayes tries to get him to allow them to stay but Yorga responds with, "Gentlemen, you are forcing me to be distasteful." Knowing that he can't win, Hayes gives in and Yorga heads off to retire, telling them Brudah will show them out. But, as he exits the room, Hayes asks him if he believes in vampires. Stopping, Yorga turns back to him and gives him a very resounding, "Yes." Clearly knowing what the doctor is getting at when he says that vampires interest him, he tells them that they should, given their superiority to humans. The count, again, tries to leave, but then, Hayes asks him if it's true that vampires must return to their resting places before sunrise. That's when Yorga tells him that he'll hold off answering that question until the next time they meet, assuring that there will be a next time.

Come morning, Hayes tells Michael that they're going to have to kill Count Yorga, something that Michael wasn't expecting him to hear, as he's still not 100% convinced that Yorga is a vampire. Hayes not only insists that Yorga's body will turn to ash once he's staked, leaving no trace of him behind, and lays out the evidence: Paul and Erica's disappearance, Donna's mother having died of anemia, which Erica was very close contracting, and the fact that vampires live on blood. Despite not wanting to believe it, Michael does concede and Hayes says that they'll head out to Yorga's place before sunset. He tells Michael to get some sleep, to set his alarm, and to meet him at his office at 2:00 that afternoon. Before he leaves, he warns Michael that they'll be putting themselves in serious danger if he's right, explaining, "Vampires supposedly have the wisdom of centuries on their sides. They don't live that long by being fools. So, it's a bit possible he might get us." He also adds that if Paul and Erica are vampires as well, they'll have to kill them too. The day then passes, with Hayes reading up some more on vampire lore, while at the manor, Yorga lies in his coffin, concentrating in an attempt to make contact with Donna. Following Hayes' second ill-fated attempt to warn the police, Yorga manages to reach Donna as she lies in bed with Michael, telling her, "The time has come for us to be one. Eternally together." Donna awakens and rises from her bed, switching off the alarm on Michael's clock before heading out with the car keys. She drives to the manor, continuing to hear Yorga's call, and goes through the gate, which Brudah is leaving open for her. The sun is now setting. Meanwhile, Hayes has fallen asleep in his office and is awakened by the phone ringing. It's Michael, who tells her that Donna's gone, and Hayes sees that it's 4:30. He rushes over, while at the manor, Donna has been jumped by Brudah, who throws her down in the grass and looms over her, obviously having something devious in mind. He drags her into the shade of some nearby trees and moves down on top of her. Elsewhere, Michael and Hayes arm themselves, breaking pieces of chairs and a broomstick for makeshift stakes, and Hayes also tells them to try to find a cross. They meet in the kitchen and Michael tells Hayes he couldn't find an actual crucifix, so he'll make some of his own with sticks and a cord on the way. They then pile into Hayes' car and drive off to the manor, going as fast as they can in the dark.

Within the manor, Yorga rises from his coffin, while outside, Michael and Hayes approach the house, having left their car. Hunkering down, Hayes tells Michael that the first order of business is to find Donna and make sure that she's safe, then they should go after the count. Arming themselves with their crosses, and scared out of their wits, they get to it, Hayes sending Michael on ahead while he heads around back, jumping at the sounds of howling wolves. Down in the crypt, Brudah walks in and tells Yorga, as he sits on his throne, that Donna is upstairs. Yorga, knowing what Brudah did, glares at him and he asks for forgiveness. Before Yorga can impose any kind of punishment on him, he senses his enemies' arrival and begins making his way upstairs, telling Brudah what's going on and that, "We cannot afford their knowledge." Michael, meanwhile, has found his way inside and is searching the dark catacombs beneath the manor, while Hayes tries to find his own way inside. Unable to open a door, he tries to force open a window, only to nearly jump out of his skin when Yorga speaks his name from a nearby (when Yorga comments to him, "What an unexpected surprise," Hayes says, "Yes, so much so that I almost had a massive coronary,"). The count invites him in and Hayes has little recourse but to accept and joins him inside. Down in the catacombs, Michael comes across a coffin and prepares to force it open and stake whoever is inside it. But, when he does open it, he finds it empty. He quickly runs elsewhere, while upstairs, Hayes and Yorga are again sitting across from each other, picking up the previous night's conversation with the subject of vampires. Yorga then asks to see the large stake that Hayes is holding across his lap and, as he looks at it, he comments, "I believe I told you last night, did I not, that vampires have minds far superior to those of mortals?... It is due, of course, to their unique power to outlast centuries. Time to gather and absorb wisdom from some of the most potent minds that have ever lived." When asked what he would consider a vampire's greatest strength, Yorga answers, "Their ability to rule that which they choose to rule. Their ability to make a fool out of any man." He hands Hayes back his stake and they both decide to drop the pretense, Yorga asking, "Would you care now to see that which you hope not to see?"

Hayes is then led down into the crypt and Yorga watches from the stairs as he inspects the brides as they lay on the slabs, one of whom is Erica. Checking her, he finds no heartbeat or pulse, and then asks Yorga where Donna and Paul are. The count tells him that Donna is upstairs and Paul is dead, adding, "You shall never see either of them again. You enjoyed your little joke last night, doctor, but as you can see, tonight is mine." With Yorga himself confirming that he is a vampire, Hayes attempts to battle him, pulling out one of his makeshift crosses. Yorga turns away from it and puts some distance between them, but tells Hayes that he's naive. Holding Yorga back, Hayes yells for Michael, who hears him in the catacombs and starts heading for the source of his calls. Yorga begins taunting Hayes, laughing evilly at him and doing a fake lunge at one point, even mocking his calls for Michael. Unbeknownst to Hayes, Yorga's brides are rising up behind him and moving in on him, as he's distracted with the main vampire. Michael finds a door and tries to break it down, when he hears Hayes yelling in anguish. Unable to make the door budge, he heads down another flight of stairs, while in the crypt, Hayes is forced to the floor and the brides descend on him, tearing into his face and feeding on his blood, while Yorga watches. He then leaves his brides to it and heads up to the bedroom where the entranced Donna is lying. Running through the corridors, Michael appears to slip and fall, momentarily losing his flashlight, and when he reclaims it, it illuminates Paul's body, his skin and hair white and bite marks all over his face. Paul is still alive at this point but finally loses his grip and dies as Michael looks at him. He removes Paul's hand from his leg, the reason why he fell, and continues on (one last look at Paul's face from a different angle reveals that his left eye socket is now a bloody mess). He runs straight into Brudah, who grabs him by the throat but he manages to break free. Brudah attempts to bash him and smashes through a wooden crate, giving Michael the chance to attack him from behind. This doesn't faze Brudah, who corners him against the wall and lunges at him, though Michael manages to duck out of the way and smack him in the head with a plank. Michael tries to run for it but is distracted when he runs into a spiderweb, giving Brudah the opportunity to grab him by the throat and force him up against the wall before lifting his body up. As Michael struggles, he removes a knife from its holster around his waist and stabs Brudah in the gut with it. However, this doesn't deter him, as he continues trying to strangle him, and so Michael pulls the knife out and stabs him again, this time harder and deeper. This prompts him to let go, as he now has a profusely bleeding wound, while Michael grabs his fallen stake and continues on with it, as Brudah collapses.

Upstairs, Yorga reunites Donna with her now undead mother, while Michael finally finds his way to the crypt. He finds Hayes lying on the floor, barely alive, his face horribly mangled; with his last breath, he tells Michael that Donna is upstairs. That's when Erica and the redheaded vampire bride come rushing into the room but Michael manages to fend them off by swinging his stake at them. He has an opportunity to stake Erica while she's distracted, the other vampire fleeing, but he can't bring himself to do it, no matter how hard he tries, and he heads upstairs to the main part of the manor. Just as he's about to head upstairs, he runs into Brudah again, who's clutching his bleeding wound. Despite how weak he is, Brudah tries to get at Michael but collapses at the foot of the stairs and finally dies. Michael heads up to the second floor and finds the room where Donna is being kept. Telling Yorga and Donna's mother to keep away, he asks Donna if she's alright and she answers yes. He then tells her to get behind him, while Yorga tells Michael that he'll never win. Donna doesn't comply and Michael turns to look at her as he again tells her to come to him, when Yorga shoves her mother forward, impaling her on Michael's stake. The count runs for it and, even though Michael grabs his legs and trips him, he gets kicked in the face, allowing Yorga to escape. As Donna looks at her now truly dead mother, Michael breaks off the other end of the broomstick stake and rushes out the door, when Yorga charges him and tries to force him down the hall. Michael takes the opportunity to stake him and Yorga, with a shocked expression on his face, staggers back and leans over the banister, letting out a pained roar. He turns around and tries to come at Michael but collapses to the floor and writhes around and continues yelling before finally expiring. Michael then goes to get Donna, who's still despondent over her mother, and, apologizing for what's happened, manages to get her to her feet, as they prepare to leave. Walking outside, they see that Yorga's body is in the process of disintegrating into dust, with Michael commenting, "I'm looking at it, and I still can't believe it all happened." They're about to head down the stairs, only to run into Erica and the other vampire bride. Michael leads Donna over to another flight of stairs across from them and, when the vampires intercept them, he holds them back with his cross. He manages to force them down the stairs and through the door leading down to the crypt, locking it behind them. He drops his cross to the floor in the chaos and is just about exhausted, mentally and physically, when Donna suddenly lets go of his hand. He turns and sees her, as a vampire, lunging at him with her teeth bared. The image freezes and the film cuts to a whirling shot of the city at night, as the narrator from before asks, "Superstition?", and then laughs evilly. The last shot is of Michael's mangled face, following Donna's attack.

The music score, composed by Bill Marx, is just kind of so-so overall and varies wildly in quality. There are some instances where it sounds pretty good, like the Gothic-sounding, organ music you hear in some scenes, like when Count Yorga is descending the stairs in his manor, the drumming bit you hear when Yorga attacks Paul and Erica out in their van, and the erotic piece you hear when Yorga thoroughly seduces Erica, but there are other times where the music sounds awful chipper and almost cartoonish. Weirdly enough, you hear that kind of music in a couple of the scenes where someone drives the narrow road from the gate to Yorga's manor. All in all, there's not much to be said about the score, as it's hardly among the film's more memorable aspects.

Count Yorga, Vampire is a flawed but entertainingly campy film, especially for fans of vampire movies made around this time. It benefits from a sincerely good performance by Robert Quarry in the title role and respectable performances from the other actors, an interesting notion of transplanting the age-old vampire story, specifically a revamped version of the Dracula story, into Los Angeles in 1970, the classic Gothic tropes that are to be found within Yorga's manor, more than enough sensuality and bloodletting to satisfy those who want it, and a delightful sense of camp all-around. The movie, however, does suffer from some instances of awkward filmmaking, storytelling, and editing, attempts humor that are more odd and cringe-inducing rather than funny, and a music score that's very hit-and-miss, as well as quite forgettable, but none of that holds it back too much. It's a movie that I would recommend for fans of campy horror films from the late 60's and early 70's, as well as those who enjoy the Hammer films, since it's in that same sort of vein.